Chapter 14
A da held her hands loosely in her lap, as Cash drove down the driveway, and hit the main road.
“Should we go to the courthouse, get our license and get married right away?”
“I’m game if you are.”
“Sounds good to me. Let me call Pastor and see what’s going on.”
She sat and listened while Cash made the phone call. It sounded like Pastor was in Rockerton, and he would be willing to do the ceremony at the courthouse with the clerk as a witness.
That was nice, and when Cash got off the phone, Ada didn’t have to think about it. She nodded when he asked if that was fine. She’d always dreamed of getting married in the church, but it wasn’t like a dream that she was desperate to live out. That’s just how she pictured it when she pictured her marriage.
But she was old enough to know that life often did not go the way that one pictured it. In fact, very seldom did life go the way one pictured it. Most of the time, it was very much different from anything a person pictured. Ada had learned to be content with that.
Maybe it was more accurate to say she had chosen to become content with that. Because, it was God, and whatever he ordered in her life was right.
After Cash got off the phone, he confirmed what she already had suspected by the way the conversation had gone on his end. That they would get married at the courthouse with the pastor. As soon as they got their license. He was meeting them there in forty-five minutes, which should give them plenty of time to get there on time.
They chatted about the weather, and about some inconsequential things, and then, Cash turned the conversation to a few things that she had wondered about last night, but had decided she wouldn’t worry about. Whatever worked out, worked out. And she just wasn’t going to think about it.
“Are you okay living with my Aunt Karen and me?”
“Yes. That’s what I thought we were going to do.”
“I told you I promised her that I would stay there until I turned the car dealership around. If we get the billion dollars, I’ll see what she says, but... I don’t know if that’s where God really wants me to stay.”
“You need to do what God wants you to do,” Ada said, meaning that. She was a little bit scared as she said it, because she didn’t want to leave Sweet Water. She didn’t want to leave her family. And, if she allowed herself to think about it too much, she would get sad and depressed. But, as she kept her eyes on Jesus, and just remembered that he wouldn’t lead her anywhere he wouldn’t hold her hand and stay with her, then everything would be okay.
“I think Aunt Karen had talked some about doing some spring cleaning. She was going to hire someone to do it, but... I didn’t know if you could help her or not.”
“I will. I told my family that I most likely wouldn’t be around to help them anymore. I wanted to talk to you about it and see what you said, because if it’s okay with you, I’ll continue. But, I don’t want to keep going there if that’s not where you want me.”
“I don’t care if you do it some, but I do think that it might be best for you to see what you can do with Aunt Karen.”
It sounded like he wanted her to stay at home and be with him. And to not be with her family.
“If you don’t want me to be with my family at all, can you say so?” she said, cautiously, because she didn’t want to jump to the wrong conclusion.
“I don’t want to be the bad guy, but at the same time, I feel like when we get married we leave our family and we cleave to our spouse. Does that make sense?”
“Absolutely,” she said. She deliberately hadn’t asked about this, because this might have changed her mind. She wouldn’t have been quite so willing to follow and do whatever God wanted her to do, if she knew that her husband was going to want her to live in Sweet Water, and not see her family everyday. It was going to be a big change for her, but that’s what marriage was.
It’s not too late to change your mind.
She shut that thought aside. She didn’t want to change her mind. She knew what God wanted her to do, and she wanted to do it. No matter how hard it was. And, the idea of not seeing her family everyday was really, really hard.
They got to Rockerton, and the conversation was not strained, but she knew she wasn’t quite as chipper as she had been. She just needed to work through it. And realize that life was going to be changing for her, in a big way. But, in an exciting way too. And she had to be okay with that. She wanted to look forward to it and welcome the new challenges.
“All right, let’s do this,” Cash said, glancing across the seat at her and giving her a smile. He looked just as nervous as she felt. But, she felt a smile come easily to her lips. There was no question in her mind this was the right thing. Even if part of her heart was breaking at the idea of not being with her family. It would be fine. God was in control.
It was easy to get the license and didn’t take very long at all. The pastor was waiting for them, and their marriage ceremony was quick and painless.
Cash kissed her on the cheek when the pastor said that he could kiss his bride, and Ada was slightly disappointed. She had thought about her wedding kiss for years, had thought there would be something a little bit more passionate.
But, she supposed she really hadn’t thought it through. It made sense that their wedding kiss would not be turning into a make out session.
Cash gave the pastor some greenbacks, and Ada was pretty sure that he had been very generous with his payment. After all, he was a pastor himself.
“So, wife,” Cash said as they walked out of the big, ornate, courtroom doors. “Would you like to sit down at a restaurant and eat some lunch?”
“I seem to have worked up an appetite, husband.” She liked being called “wife.” “I think getting married must make me hungry.”
She smiled into his eyes, and he smiled back as he took her hand, and held it out. “Is this okay?”
“Of course,” she said, actually very happy about it. She had always wanted to hold someone’s hand and have him be all hers. And now, she had her very own husband. Cash was definitely all hers.
They were walking down the street to the restaurant that was just a block away from the courthouse, when Cash’s phone rang.
He pulled it out of his pocket and glanced at it.
He made it as though he was going to put it back in his pocket.
“Who is it?” she asked, curious as to whose phone call he would ignore.
“I think it’s someone from Virginia, but I got a new phone, and I don’t have whoever it is in my contacts.”
“Answer it. It might be your parents or siblings or something.”
He looked as though he were thinking about it for a moment, and then he nodded. “I can’t even remember what their numbers are.”
He let go of her hand, and swiped his phone to answer, putting it on speaker, and smiling at her and winking. The sidewalk was deserted, and it didn’t really matter how loud his phone was, as they moved to the side, with him holding it up between them.
“Cash Johnson.”
“Cash. So formal. Surely you recognize my number. It hasn’t been that long,”
It was a woman’s voice. And, she sounded kinda flirty.
“Abby,” Cash said.
He glanced at her, and then turned a little away from her, as though he didn’t want her to hear. His phone was still on speaker.
Abby? Who was Abby?
He had mentioned a fiancé that he had broken up with. But...could this be her?
Ada tried not to bite her lip, or be worried. Whatever it was would work itself out.
“I had to get a new phone, remember? I don’t have your name in my contacts. Did you need something?” Cash sounded very uncomfortable. And she wasn’t sure whether it was because he was talking to Abby, or because he knew Ada was listening.
“Cash. All right. I forgive you this time. But, when I call, you need to say, hello, darling.”
“Is that all you wanted?” Cash asked again.
“Sweetheart. I called to apologize. I overreacted. I shouldn’t have been so unkind to you. I still have my ring, and it’s on my finger. I sent you a picture. Let’s work this out. Okay?” She paused and Cash didn’t say anything. “Remember all the good times. After all, there were a lot of those. And, I miss you. I miss your kiss.”
Ada about swallowed her tongue. She hadn’t even kissed her husband. And yet this woman had. Well, unless she counted the peck on the cheek he gave her in the courthouse, but she wasn’t counting that.
“Abby. I got married today. Please don’t call me again.”
“Cash?” Abby sounded panicked. “You’re kidding? You have to be kidding. Cash darling. You couldn’t have gotten married so fast. It’s only been a few months. And I know you move deliberately. After all, I have experience with that. Why in the world would you lie to me and tell me that you were married? You silly boy.”
She sounded condescending. Ada almost wanted to say something to her, then she remembered what she had said to Cash about how she didn’t notice people’s faults.
Maybe that wasn’t true whenever it was a woman who was flirting with her husband.
“No. I’m dead serious. I just got married. My wife is standing beside me. Unless you need something else, I really don’t think that we should be talking anymore.”
At least Cash was handling it well. He wasn’t trying to put her off for some other time. He wasn’t flirting back and he wasn’t pulling any punches about the fact that he was married. She couldn’t fault anything he was doing. But, she also couldn’t keep the uneasiness from sliding down her spine and making her want to curl into herself. And she couldn’t explain why.
Up until that point, she had been confident that she and Cash could develop a good relationship.
But if this was the kind of woman he had been engaged to before, she wasn’t sure what he was doing with Ada. She wasn’t anything like her. In fact, if she had to find her opposite, it really sounded like that woman could have been it.
Cash hung up, but there was an awkward silence between them.
He lifted a hand. “I’m sorry about that. It was weird. She broke up with me before I left. She told me she was keeping the ring, but I didn’t think it was because she wanted to wear it again. At the time, our wedding was supposed to be in two weeks. And I actually still owe some money on the venue, and a few other things. You can’t cancel a wedding two weeks out and get all of your money back.” He ended lamely, as though he didn’t know what else to say.
“You don’t have to explain to me. At least now you know whose phone number that is,” she said.
“Yeah. I probably ought to block it. Remind me to do that when we sit down.”
She lifted her shoulder. “You can if you want to. But you don’t need to do it for me. You were firm in your rebuttal, and I think she understands that you’re married.” If she was a Christian woman, that would be all he needed to say. And, Ada was sure that Abby was a Christian. Or, Cash wouldn’t have considered marrying her.
“All right. I guess I need to shake that off. It threw me for a loop. I wasn’t expecting it.”
He seemed like he was thinking about it as he walked to the door and opened it for her.
She thanked him, and walked in ahead. They waited until the host could seat them, and then sat across from each other, looking at the menus.